DATE=8/17/2000 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE=NORTH KOREA COVERAGE / REUNIONS L-ONLY NUMBER=2-265580 BYLINE=ALISHA RYU DATELINE=HONG KONG CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: South Korea's Unification ministry says North Korean broadcasters have provided unusually in-depth coverage of this week's reunions of families separated since the Korean War. VOA's Alisha Ryu has the details from our Asia News Center. TEXT: The Unification ministry, which is monitoring broadcasts of North Korea's coverage of the reunions, says the communist North's coverage has been accurate and surprisingly open. Unification officials say North Korea's two major radio stations ran extensive broadcasts of the tearful reunions that took place this week in Seoul and Pyongyang. The officials say commentators for the state-run North Korean Central Broadcasting Station were effusive in their descriptions of the reunions, calling the meetings important steps in relieving the pain of national division. But ministry officials say the North Korean broadcasts were not completely devoid of propaganda. The broadcasts reportedly emphasized that South Korean families expressed heartfelt gratitude to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il for arranging the meetings. The family reunions brought 100 South Koreans to the North and 100 North Koreans South to visit family for the first time since war tore them apart 50 years ago. The visits were arranged as part of a reconciliation agreement struck between North Korean Leader Kim Jong Il and South Korean President Kim Dae-jung during their landmark June summit in Pyongyang. South and North Korea are, technically, still at war since the Korean War ended without a peace treaty in 1953. (Signed) NEB/HK/AR/JO/KL 17-Aug-2000 07:18 AM EDT (17-Aug-2000 1118 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .
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